On the surface BHX2 is a Tumblog documenting Bharath Bhushan's thoughts on music, film, books and web app endeavors but the presentation of such information is unlike any I have seen on Tumblr before. Keyboard navigation, color scheme switching, fixed column browsing and infinite scrolling are all deployed perfectly here. I am stunned at how much I love this - the content, the design and the execution; all incredible.

Via James Holland.

Looking through the vaguely NSFW photostream of Elmo Tide I was convinced that I was seeing a collection of vintage images - but occasionally there are signs to that not being the case at all. That being said, the images really seem to come from an entirely different time. They are a fascinating slice of some world that I can't even imagine existing today. There are only three pages of photos at this time but there's an incredible amount of greatness to behold. I want to know more but I think the not knowing adds to their appeal.

Unearthed by Jeremy Okai Davis.

This Vintage Stamp Collection is certainly something to behold! There's a ridiculous amount of variety in the designs and the fact that they've been previously postmarked adds a nice bit of texture you'd miss out on otherwise. There's a supplemental Tumblr to go along with the set that should be investigated as well.

Via Mr. Chimero.

There isn't a single image (or proper series of images) that could properly encapsulate the content of Synaptic Stimuli - an art blog covering an enormously wide range of projects and styles. Pictured above is an installation from Ernesto Neto but the site dives into content like Biological Art, Söderberg Patterns and some things I can't categorize but appreciate beyond expression.

Via Joey.

Jason Santa Maria makes a great argument for A Real Web Design Application to go into development. Maybe Adobe can take on the task. Maybe some other third unknown party. Whoever it is, his stance is that of all the applications available to web designers today there isn't really one that really captures the process of proper web design. Type engines are currently off, grid structures need to be more flexible and insight into different rendering schemes are completely neglected.

Could an application built on Webkit help solve this problem? Possibly. Whatever the solution is, I fully support such an endeavor and would love a proper Web Design Application - along the lines of what he describes - to exist. Someone get a Kickstarter going.

Google just announced a new application for their Android system called Google Goggles that enables you to take a photo of a great number of items and have Google recognize and report back more information about said item. The introduction video does a good job of explaining how it works and I must admit, you can color me impressed on this one. That is some seriously Futuristic Tech. How well does it work? I've no idea. Probably not as well as one would think but the potential to be able to take a photo of a business card and have it be inserted into your Contact List is pretty great. I'm sure this has a long way to go in terms of being super practical in its usage but the concept is solid.

I'm quite curious to see if this makes its way over to an iPhone style app or if Google is going to start launching things that are exclusively available for their Android operating system. Maybe there's already a ton of examples of that happening but it seems like the more people that use your system, the more data you have on how to optimize it...

Long story short, check out Google Goggles.

Did you know that Cuban Council designed the Facebook logo? Did you know Facebook is up to ½ billion users? Surely there is a correlation there, right? I'd like to think so. To celebrate, Cuban Council is giving away free gold - it's right there for you to grab, right now! My favorite part of this offering is the Read Me text that comes along with it:

You may ask yourself "what can I use it for?" - the truth is, we haven't a clue. Put it on your blog. Show you care. Put it in the bank. Battle inflation.

Regardless, I suggest you go check it out and maybe you can figure out a proper usage for it.

• Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos meet "Ginger" - an excerpt from Code Name Ginger that describes a meeting of minds around the much touted, but mostly failed, Segway from Dean Kamen. The quotes from Steve Jobs are as outrageous as you'd hope and, frankly, the whole thing reads like Apple fan fiction; in a highly amusing manner. Via Jamie.
• jQuery Konami Code Plugin - now you can easily integrate some Easter Eggs into all your upcoming projects.
• Firefox Tab Candy - a forthcoming Firefox technology that lets you organize your tabs. I was going to devote more blog space to sharing this thing but after watching this video I'm not convinced it's anything I want to spend any time with. Tab overkill is a problem but I'm not convinced this is the solution.

Not too long ago I posted about the portfolio of Jesse Lenz and it seems that since that time he's been one busy individual. The myriad of different styles and projects have been dropped from the portfolio and now he's focusing primarily on his collage work. There's a nice bizarre quality to a great deal of it that keeps me clicking. Some of the pieces remind me of Mark Weaver but that's fair game when you're dealing with similar source material and certainly not a slight on the work.. my eyeballs have greatly enjoyed the browse.

Thanks to Kate I've been spending time combing through pages and pages of goodness from Ibán Ramón. Given that I'm such a sucker for fog I knew I was hooked going in but there is so much more to enjoy. Take a look at the +50 Faves set to get a good overview of all the different styles and themes running throughout.

It's also worth noting that beyond being a skilled photographer he's also a quality designer with a hefty portfolio well worth your time.

NASA put together a great stop motion animation of the process of prepping the shuttle for launch. It's incredible to see the machinery involved in hoisting the shuttle up on to the solid rocket boosters and, as always, insane to see the power created when the shuttle actually lifts off from the launch pad. It's sad that this sort of space exploration is dead in the water for the time being but it's great to see how it all went down.

The entirety of photos from Kyle Ferino are worthy of your browsing time but I'd suggest starting with the Parkview Lanes set. There's a vibe to bowling alleys you just don't seem to get anywhere else.. captured quite well here by Ferino.

Via Jeremy via Public School.

First and foremost, if you have not heard The Way Out from The Books, please go obtain a copy at your earliest convenience. I suggest the vinyl edition as the first run is on a beautiful white & clear spatter wax with custom etching on the D side. Yes, I am fetishizing the package but I think it's worth the praise.

Once you're familiar with the record, start keeping your eye on the band's blog as they are going through each track on the record and describing the process of creation. Granted, sometimes you don't want the mystery of the song explained but hearing a bit of the technical insight into just how they achieved certain sounds is fascinating.

Despite never having been to Comic-Con myself I can vicariously experience the convention thanks to Mr. Gilmore. His annual Comic-Con set has been posted on Flickr and I browsed through each and every of the 212 photos in the series. I never cease to be amazed by the costumes and general nerd insanity of said convention and it's nice to see that it hasn't subsided one bit this year. Lee and I did have a conversation about the lack of Darth Vaders and Watchmen characters this year but that's a topic too nerdy to openly share. Enjoy the set.

I have absolutely zero insight into this video of Ron Livingston as Keyboard Cat and I'd prefer to keep it that way. It doesn't matter why this exists.. only that it does exist and that it is a real treat.

Via Daniel.

Daniel pointed me towards this great proof of concept of HTML5 Color Cycling using the canvas element and some old school 8-bit thinking (specifically; Mark J Ferrari and LucasArts). I'd say it's a faithful tribute but it's more than that as the cycles are pulled directly from the original Amiga files and converted to Javascript. You can get right to the goods by going straight to the demo but I suggest reading the background info first to get a full appreciation of what all is happening. It's nuts!

YouTube spruced up their Playlist management backend. Kudos YouTube. Here's the Friday Video Playlist and the usual breakdown below:

• TNG: 'That Jean-Luc Picard' - "I wish I had a chance to know that Jean-Luc Picard" - Command Riker.
• Baby Preacher with Subtitles - send all your thanks to Keegan for, hands down, the best thing you'll see this week. The final line is perfection.
• Honda Fail - the aggression in this guys voice is no joke but the absolute intensity of it kills me. Also, be sure to look at how crappy the car is before things go wrong and ask yourself why he's so upset.
• Cows & Cows & Cows - thank you Cyriak (and Zach) for this entrancing exposition.
• You Dun Goofed Up - yep, still hilarious. I backtraced ya!
• Pug Sings Batman Theme - so dumb but had to include it.

Enjoy your weekend!

It's been awhile since I visited the works of Mattias Adolfsson and I still can't say anything but the greatest things about it. The style is simple but jam packed with character and detail worth poring over.

Reminder via Brandonnn.

I have been lauding the greatness of Bandcamp for awhile now. I stand by my love of the service they provide - particularly because it powers a lot of my releases in the digital distribution realm. Check that, it handles all of them and gives me nice stats along the way.

Now they've announced their official business model - you know, in which they actually make a case for having Bandcamp make some money off of all that they provide. The short of it is that they get 15% of each transition until you reach $5,000 in sales, in which they drop down to 10% per transaction. I think anytime a company goes from giving away everything for free to starting to take a little bit for themselves you're going to have some backlash but they've proven that the service they provide is not something you can get anywhere else, they deserve the percentage for the platform they've developed.

Any thoughts on this? Anyone raging against the notion of them taking a little off the top? I'm curious if anyone finds fault with this or if everyone accepts it as a sensible move.

I suggest anyone running a business or working with a team of people take a moment to read through this article - Why Did So Many Successful Entrpreneurs and Startups Come Out of PayPal?

Basically it runs through a series of points, noted by individuals that helped develop PayPal and its many offshoots, about how they ran their team. Anti-Meeting culture, singular tasks, safety in challenging authority and a lot of self motivation to get things done. It's a pretty quick read and an educational one to boot. Try it out.

Via Casey.